This week on Open Studio, Jared Bowen sits down with local artist Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs. He's known for his large-scale murals, which have been brightening up Boston neighborhoods for years. His latest work is “Breathe Life Together,” which he just completed on one of the city’s largest canvases: Dewey Square on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. A co-founder of the nonprofit Artists for Humanity, Gibbs is also known for his community activism as an organizer and mentor.
From there, Bowen speaks with illustrator Oliver Jeffers. Jeffers was recently commissioned to paint an installation that is part of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum exhibition, “Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet.” Jeffers talks about how Sendak influenced him as an artist and illustrator of picture books.
Bowen closes the show with visual artist Lesley Dill, who uses prose and poetry as prompts for her work. In her show, “Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me” — now on view at Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, N.H. — Dill investigates visionary characters throughout American history such as Sojourner Truth, Dred Scott and John Brown.
